Gender Nonconformity, Childhood Abuse, and Sexual Victimization among Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Adults

In the present study we examined whether the relationship between childhood gender nonconformity and sexual victimization among lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) men and women, is mediated by experiences with childhood abuse. Data are based on a survey among LGB individuals (N = 3,054; 1,580 men and 1,474; M_age= 44.7) recruited from an online research panel. Participants completed an online questionnaire consisting of existing scales.

The mean scores on gender nonconformity and experiences with childhood abuse (emotional neglect and psychological/ physical abuse in the family) were 2.23 and 1.52, respectively. Twenty-four percent of the participants reported that they had experienced sexual victimization. There were gender differences: Men reported more gender nonconformity and women reported more often experiences with childhood abuse and sexual victimization. Bootstrapped mediation analysis showed that childhood abuse significantly mediated the relation between childhood gender nonconformity and experiences of sexual victimization (B = .09, Bootstrap 95%, Confidence Interval 0.06, 0.11); no significant difference in this mediation was found between men and women. In other words, higher levels of childhood gender nonconformity predicted  experiences with childhood abuse, which in turn predicted the higher prevalence of sexual victimization.

Implementations of these findings are that interventions aimed at increasing the social acceptance of gender nonconformity might also lower the levels of childhood abuse and sexual victimization among LGB individuals. Professionals working with children should be aware of the impact of gender nonconformity on childhood abuse and experiences of sexual victimization later in life.